The Craft: The Law of Three
by Crashdog
Summary: Further journeys in the Craft. Hope you enjoy and thanks for all comments. I changed the title, it just wasn't working for me.
1. Chapter 1

The wind was dancing among the branches of oak, birch, maple, and a few stray pines. The trees swayed together to a tune only they could hear. Abram didn't remember walking into the woods, especially not at night without a flashlight. Even though the moon was full and could be glimpsed between passing clouds, Abram knew he should not be able to see everything so clearly in the dark.  
A possum was digging in some fallen leaves for bugs or if lucky a lizard. Raccoons were groping in the stream for mussels and crawfish. And there was a deer peacefully drinking as a trout swam quickly by. A dream, Abram should have realized sooner. There was something familiar about this forest, about this dream. The wind suddenly stopped blowing through the branches.  
The denizens of the forest grew still and silent. Abram's heart seemed to slow as he took in the change that had crept over the forest. The possum glared red-eyed at him. The raccoons sat up from their work watching him. The deer now stood like a sentinel staring straight at Abram. It was only now that Abram saw that it was a stag. The moon was framed in the stag's massive antlers. Abram did not remember the deer being so large. The beast's head rose above his own 5' 11" frame. Years of backpacking, hiking, and canoeing had sculpted Abram's body until it was lean and hard. His straight black hair hinted at his mother's Cherokee blood, while his green eyes spoke of Abram's father's Irish heritage.  
The stag snorted, his breath visible in the fall night like twin steam engines puffing their exertion. Stomping loudly at the ground, the stag suddenly bolted deeper into the woods, the whitetail beckoning Abram to follow. Legs pumping, Abram chased after the animal. Often loosing site of the stag only to hear it crashing ahead, Abram struggled to keep up. His lungs crying in protest, Abram stopped to catch his breath. The forest was silent. Abram could not see or hear any sign of the mighty stag. Closing his eyes and holding his breath Abram strained his ears for any sound that might betray the location of the beast.  
Abram never questioned why he ran after the animal. In the dreamland one just does not ask such things. When the Faerie Godmother tells Cinderella that she must return before midnight or she will be turned into a pumpkin, does Cinderella ask, "How come?" No, because the Faerie Godmother would retort, "Well if that is how you want it, then tell me 'how come' there is a Faerie land?"  
A loud snorting broke the silence. Abram quietly made his way between trees toward the sound. As he rounded a large rock outcropping, Abram saw the mighty stag. He waited impatiently for Abram, first staring at Abram then turning to look at what appeared to be a clearing further ahead. As Abram came to the animal he reached out to stroke its fur. The stag's muscles tensed and flexed under Abram's hand. Snorting, the stag brushed its nose against Abram's shoulder. Nudging Abram toward the clearing, the stag seemed excited and anxious for Abram to enter it.  
As Abram drew closer to the clearing, he noticed the many ancient looking oaks, which formed a perimeter around it. The massive trunks and full branches seemed to be hiding or protecting whatever lay within the clearing. The light of the full moon cast an unnatural light within the clearing, yet Abram could not see within the sentinel of oaks. Touching one of the oaks, Abram's skin tingled with energy. He jerked his hand back looking up into the oak's branches, which spread out into the stars of the autumn night sky. Pausing for only a moment, Abram boldly stepped into the clearing.  
Blinding white light burned his eyes. Abram blinked furiously and tried to focus as the sun shone into his bedroom. Morning, his skin warmed by the sun, Abram fought to hold onto the fleeting images of his dream. Clumsily he grabbed for the pad and pencil he kept on his nightstand. Quickly jotting down images and thoughts before they escaped into the fleeing dreamland of his subconscious. 


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah slapped the off button on her alarm clock. She stretched in  
the warmth of her bed, a smile spreading across her lips. It has been  
a month since the showdown with Nancy, Bonnie, and Rochelle, a month  
since the nightmares. Recently her sleep has been wonderfully filled  
with peaceful dreams. Too bad the rest of her life was not as  
peaceful as her sleep.  
Bonnie and Rochelle did not bother her, not since that day. After  
Sarah gave them a little demonstration to prove she still had her  
powers. Bonnie and Rochelle avoided her like the plague. Despite  
that they were her only friends at school, Sarah was not quite ready  
to forgive them and make peace. So, it was back to being alone and a  
social outcast at school.  
Sarah sighed, the smile disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.  
Throwing the covers back, she grudgingly headed for the bathroom to  
get ready for school. After a quick shower and putting her school  
uniform on, Sarah chased the last bit of sleep away with a mug of  
coffee. Grabbing her books she yelled, "Good-bye", to her dad and  
went out the door. Sarah had taken to walking to and from school  
recently. She found the exercise relaxing and the scenery a good  
distraction from unpleasant memories.  
As she walked past the last stretch of woods before entering town,  
Sarah was snapped out of her musings by a crashing deep in the trees.  
Letting out a small gasp, she caught a quick glimpse of a white tail  
disappearing into the forest. Laughing at herself and felling a sense  
of deja vu, Sarah continued her walk to school.  
St. Benedicts School, with its giant crucifix above the main  
entrance, who would of guessed it for the hell it really was? Okay,  
maybe I am exaggerating a little, Sarah told herself. All right, I am  
exaggerating a lot, she confessed. While she got a few sneers and  
unfriendly stares from the less than discreet, most of the other  
students behave indifferent to her. A few had even begun to smile or  
give a heads-up in acknowledgment of Sarah's existence at school.  
Maybe it was the absence of Nancy Downs, or perhaps Sarah's spell  
for peace and harmony in her life that was creating the new mood at  
school. Maybe it was a little of both. Whatever the reasons, Sarah  
thanked Manon and kept her head up as she headed for her first period  
class. Distracted by her thoughts, Sarah did not notice as Abram  
stuttered, "H-Hello, Sarah." when she passed him in the hall. Abram  
sighed.  
  
"Real slick, moron." He chastised himself.  
  
"Abram? Wow, long time no see." Bonnie chimed from behind him.  
  
"Bonnie? Ah, yeah, I guess I haven't been too social for a while."  
Abram confessed.  
  
Abram grinned sheepishly. Remembering how he started avoiding both  
Bonnie and Rochelle when they started hanging out with Nancy. Nancy  
gave off some seriously bad vibes. Abram had recognized Nancy as a  
fellow Wiccan almost immediately. When Bonnie, Rochelle, and Nancy  
started calling the corners together, Bonnie had suggested Abram join  
them. But Nancy squelched that idea as soon as Bonnie uttered it.  
Perhaps she sensed Abram as strongly as he did her.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Abram. Rochelle and I haven't exactly been  
calling lately. You're not in my French class, so what are you doing  
here?" Bonnie asked with a hint of suspicion in her voice.  
  
"Ah, I was just...um." Abram's face started feeling warm. He looked  
quickly into the classroom at Sarah and back at Bonnie.  
  
Bonnie broke into a big grin. "You're stalking Sarah aren't you." She  
ribbed him.  
  
Abram looked startled at Bonnie, and started laughing as he realized  
she was joking. They both laughed and looked at Sarah.  
  
Sarah could feel someone staring at her. She looked up from her  
book and around the classroom then out the door. Her eyes widened as  
she met Bonnie and some guy's gaze. Feeling defensive she scowled and  
sent a little magical nudge their way. 'It wasn't nice to stare' she  
told herself. The guy's eyes grew slightly larger and suddenly  
narrowed at Sarah.  
  
"Oww!," she yelped. She felt as if someone had shoved her in the  
chest as her magic was repelled by the guy. Or was it Bonnie who had  
repelled it? 'Oh this was not good,' Sarah thought, 'not good at  
all.'  
  
Bonnie and Abram exchanged shocked glances. Bonnie was about to ask  
Abram what had happened when the bell rang.  
  
"I gotta go," Abram said running down the hall to his own class.  
  
Bonnie stared after him, then quickly found her seat. She nervously  
looked at Sarah and wished she hadn't when she saw the frown on  
Sarah's face.  
  
"Great, just what I needed. Sarah getting angrier at me than she  
already is," Bonnie griped under her breath.


	3. Chapter 3

Bonnie felt as if Sarah were staring at her the entire class. Trying to put it out of her mind, Bonnie thought about Abram instead. They had been friends for as long as Bonnie could remember, almost as long as her and Rochelle. Abram had been there when the 'accident' happened. He was the only one besides Bonnie who knew what really caused the fire that scarred her so long ago. She instinctively ran her hand over her arm and shoulder. Her skin was soft and smooth, now.  
  
"Thank you, Manon." She said under her breath. Bonnie had gotten an Ouja board for her birthday. She and Abram had decided to try and call a spirit that night. They'd met in the shed behind her house at midnight. Using only candles for light, their shadows danced against the walls as they closed their eyes and began to chant.  
  
"Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers, hear us..." The air seemed charged with power making it hard to breathe. They looked nervously at one another and continued. "We call on the spirit world, we summon you. Speak to us, we command you." The pointer began to move beneath their fingers. They opened their eyes.  
  
"Are you here, spirit?" Bonnie asked nervously. The pointer slid to "Yes". "What is you name, spirit?" Slowly it spelled out d-e-v-a-s-t-a-t-o-r.  
  
"That's not funny, Bonnie." Abram said between clenched teeth.  
  
"I'm not doing it." She whispered. She was visibly shaking.  
  
The air in the room seemed to thicken and grow colder. Abram's breathing became heavier and faster. Bonnie looked over to see if he was okay only to see what had haunted her for months afterward. Abram's eyes were rolled back, his face in a grimace. Faster and faster he breathed, his body growing stiff.  
  
"Help me!" he choked. His face strained as he fought against the spirit, which tried to claim his body.  
  
"Let him go!" Bonnie screamed, shaking Abram by the shoulders. "By the powers of Earth, Air, Water, & Fire, I command you to let him go!" Abram stopped breathing, his eyes rolled forward to glare at Bonnie.  
  
"Did you say Fire?" Abram croaked, or rather the being now controlling him. A sickening grin spread across his face. In a blur, Abram struck out knocking Bonnie backward sending her, the Ouja board, and candles flying across the shed. Flames burst as the candles landed in a pile of rags. Bonnie lay stunned, unable to get up. The flames spread toward her, her clothes catching fire. Abram rolled and convulsed on the floor fighting to be free of the spirit.  
It was Bonnie's screams that gave Abram the strength to cast the being out. Disoriented Abram crawled to Bonnie. Removing his coat he beat at the flames. Bonnie had passed out from the pain. Abram drug Bonnie out of the shed, her body still smoking. Lights came on in the house. Bonnie's parents shouting her name as they made their way through the house in confusion. Abram looked at Bonnie and then the shed, which was now consumed in flames. Panicked he ran into the night leaving Bonnie on the lawn for her parents to find. It would be months before Abram came to visit Bonnie in the hospital. Tears in his eyes he pled for her forgiveness kneeling by her bed. Painfully Bonnie had placed her hand on his head, telling him it wasn't his fault. Telling him he had saved her life. It would be months later before Bonnie actually believed it.  
The bell rang, bringing Bonnie back to the now. A tear fell down her cheek as she grabbed her books and left. Sarah sat staring at Bonnie's empty seat. Feeling a little guilty for reasons she didn't understand, she wondered what Bonnie had been daydreaming about during class that would upset her so much. Maybe it was time to start making amends with Bonnie and Rochelle. Maybe it was time to find out who that guy was that she'd seen Bonnie with before class. As she gathered her books, Sarah said a quick spell of protection.  
  
"Elements of the Sun, Elements of the Day, Come this way. Powers of night and day, I summon thee. I call upon thee, To protect me, So shall it Be."  
  
Sarah would not be unprepared next time she ran into that guy. He had powers, but how strong were they? Or perhaps a better question was what would he do with them? 


End file.
